Sole for boots or shoes



(No Model.)

J. E. TILION,

SOLE FOR BOOTSOR SHOES. No. 331,462. Patented Dec. 1,1885.

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lllwrrnn dramas li ament @rrrca JAMES E. TILTON, OF ASHLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND WILLIAM H. HUNTINGTON, OF BOSTQN, MASSACHUSETTS.

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EPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,462, dated December 1,1885.

Application filed September 4, 1885. Serial No. 176,200.

T at whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. TILTON, of Ashland, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Soles for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and I0 use the same, reference being had to the ac companying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a top or plan View of my improved sole, and Fig. 2 a vertical transverse section of the same.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawwas. I

My invention relates more especially to that class of soles known as insoles, or which are designed to be worn within the boot or shoe above both the outer and inner or middle sole; and it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of the parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, the object being to produce a more effective and desirable article of this character than is now in ordinary use.

The nature of the improvement will be 0 readily understood by all conversant with such matters from the following explanation:

In the drawings, A represents the upper, andB the lower, sections of the sole, these parts being composed of ordinary sole-leather,

or any suitable substitute therefor. Disposed at the center of the sole between the sections A B there is a piece of cloth or canvas, 0, and interposed between the upper side of the canvas C and the upper section, A, of the sole 0 there is a thin body or sheet of water proof composition, D, a like sheet, E, being interposed between the canvas andlower section, B. The composition sheets D E are made as follows: Take equal parts of Para rubber and asphaltum and dissolve the same in equal parts of benzine and eollodion, a sufficient quantity of the benzine and collodion being used to reduce the rubber and asphaltum to such astate or consistency as to enable it to be readily 5o spread into sheets with a stiff brush or other Suitable implement. After the rubber, as-

(No model.)

phaltum, benzine, and collodion have been mixed as described a sufficient quantity of sulphuris added to the compound thus formed to render it vulcanizable, the sulphur being thoroughly incorporated with the other ingredients.

In constructing the soles the piece of leather of which section Bis composed may be coated on its upper side with the composition to form the sheet E. The canvas 0 is then placed smoothly on the sheet E and a sufficient quantit-y of the composition applied to the upper side of the canvas to form the sheet D, and the whole submitted to pressure by being passed through rollers, or by means of a suitable press, thereby causing the composition sheets D E to adhere to the canvas, and all of the parts to be firmly united in a manner which will be readily obvious without a more explicit description. After the leather sections A B, canvas 0, and composition sheets D E have been united as described, the sole thus formed is submitted to heat and the sheets D E vulcanized by the ordinary process, thereby solidifying said sheets without destroying their flexibility, and firmly uniting all the parts.

I do not confine myself to vulcanizing the sheets D E, as they will cause the parts to adhere firmly without submitting them to the action of heat; nor to vulcanizing the soles separately, as a blank may be formed from which a large number of soles may be cut, and the entire blank submitted to heat before it is out up into soles, if desired. Neither do I confine myself to applying the sheets D E to the canvas and leather sections A B, as described, as they may be applied to the canvas first, and the canvas thus prepared placed between the leather sections and all submitted to pressure to cause them to unite; or the section A may have the sheet D applied to its lower surface, and the section B the sheet E to its upper surface, after which the canvas may be placed between the sheets D E and all the parts be submitted to pressure. Neither do I confine myself to the use of sulphur in the compound of whichtheshect-s D Eare formed, as the asphaltum and collodion in said compound will cause the sheets to harden when dried, and thus firmly unite the canvas and.

leather; but I deem it preferable to use the sulphur and to vulcanize the sheets by submitting them to the action of heat after they are placed in position in the sole, as they are rendered firmer and more durable thereby.

It will be obvious that the thickness of the sections A B, and also of the sheets D E, as well as of the canvas 0, may be varied as desired, or in accordance with the work in which the sole is to be used. It will also be obvious that my improved sole is flexible,water-proof, and Well adapted to be either nailed or sewed into the boot or shoe; also that it may be used as a slip-sole, if desired.

Having thus explained my invention, What I 5 I claim is As an improved article of manufacture, the herein-described sole, composed of outer layers of leather and an intermediate sheet of textile fabric connected to said outer layers 20 by a film of compound cement and pressure or vulcanization, substantially as described.

JAMES E. TILTON.

Witnesses:

GEORGE T. HIGLEY, LIDA J. TILToN. 

